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| Sunday, 13 February 2005 |
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Bribes for visas : US Embassy officials convicted WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (AFP) - Three so-called 'visa-brokers' were sentenced Friday after they had been found guilty of forwarding bribes to two former US government officials who then in return issued hundreds of illegal visas from American embassies in Sri Lanka, Fiji and Vietnam. The US Justice Department said in a statement that Vinesh Prasad, 33, and his brother Minesh, 30, both of California, and Kim Chi Lam, 53, also of California were sentenced to 57, 41 and 30 months respectively by a California judge for acting as visa-brokers in the scam. The three mens' sentencing follows the convictions of Long N. Lee, 52, and her husband, Acey R. Johnson, 34, two US officials who were found guilty of issuing 200 visas unlawfully, the department said. "In this era more than ever, it is vital to ensure integrity in the issuance of United States visas," US Attorney McGregor Scott of the Eastern District of California said in the statement. "The actions of those involved in this case, including a high ranking US embassy official in Sri Lanka, were reprehensible," Scott said. Lee, as a State Department employee, had worked at the US embassies in Sri Lanka, Fiji and Vietnam between 1995 and 2003 while her husband, Johnson, worked at the US embassies in Sri Lanka and Fiji between 1997 and 2003. Lee and Johnson admitted that Lee agreed to issue the US visas in return for bribes as early as 1995. The couple used their ill-gotten gains to either buy or maintain two homes in the United States, stashed 350,000 dollars in various bank accounts and in their Oregon home, and gave some of the cash to their children, according to the Justice Department. "I am gratified by the successful collaboration of so many agencies in this investigation, including the Diplomatic Security Service of the United States Department of State, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, and other federal and state agencies," Scott added. As well as their sentences, the Prasad brothers were ordered to forfeit 75,000 dollars while Lam has to forfeit 40,000 dollars in seized cash. |
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